Prettiest Star

Though I enjoy Nina's book here, after meeting and talking to Brett personally, I must be frank:HIS story is simply TOO GOOD to be muddied up by Nina's rather boring attempt at a "memoir" here. Nina really does not have(for my money)a particularly interesting personal story to tell. It's pretty typical of British youth at that time, and she offers no real inspiring insights in the telling of it. To that point, all I can say is that if she thinks HER youth was soul-crushing then she should have tried MINE on for size. On the other hand, BRETT'S story is anything BUT mundane. It is too many things to sum up in just one word, but INSPIRING certainly leaps to my mind. Brett is a born storyteller:animated, funny, insightful and refreshingly candid. After talking to him, I can only hope that someday he writes HIS OWN biography;it will be WELL WORTH READING! I give this four stars, for the parts dealing with Brett's story. Nina's story, IMHO, rates a ZERO. HOWEVER, I do congratulate her for writing this, thereby helping to awaken new interest in Brett-both personal and professional-to the general public. To borrow a quote from David Johansen, Brett is surely a "miracle of God's creation!"

Toppermost of my pile of current favourites is Nina Antonia's The Prettiest Star: Whatever Happened to Brett Smiley. Nina Antonia's book is a total joy - she is just a wonderful writer - pithy, acerbic and very frank. It's a bit hard to categorise, but I would say memoir is probably the best genre for it. It starts in 1974 when Antonia is a 14 year old girl living in Merseyside in a rather queasily oppressive family setting (instant recognition factor for anyone who suffered controlling parents) - she sees for a few fleeting incandescent moments a glam wannabe (one Brett Smiley) make his debut TV appearance on the Russel Harty show. He's a gorgeous pink-suited butterfly there under the auspices of Andrew Loog Oldham (the guy behind the Stones). He sings his song and sets young Nina's world ablaze. Of course, like all parables, he vanishes leaving a scent of glitter (and maybe just a hint of sulphur brimstone) behind him and in Nina's mind a question: where did he go. Nina is a skilled writer and has constructed a glorious evanescent text from these alluring moments. The book is a double narrative, charting her redemption through music in an extraordinary journey in the direction of Johnny Thunders on the one hand and Brett Smiley's grim descent to somewhere closer to skid row on the other. Her writing is humane and incisive and oh-so-good: she avoids sensationalism and mawkishness at all costs and is able to draw you into the story of this far-from-appealing man. Most of all, though, this is Antonia's story and bless her for telling it. It doesn't matter whether you know diddly-squat about the Glam era, eyeliner or platforms - this is just a stunning modern parable about our throw-away world. Read it without hesitation or delay!